McNeil v. Lillard

Larry D. Vaught, Judge.

Appellant argues that the trial court erred in its grant of partial summary judgment in favor of appellees’ petition to quiet title to certain real property under the dual theories of collateral estoppel and res judicata.

Collateral estoppel, or issue preclusion, bars relitigation of issues of law or fact previously litigated by the parties. Palmer v. Arkansas Council on Econ. Educ., 344 Ark. 461, 40 S.W.3d 784 (2001). The test in determining whether res judicata applies is whether the matters presented in a subsequent suit were necessarily within the issues of the…